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TRADITIONS TELLING OF A 'subterranean world' are found among many peoples, and we do not intend to collect them all here, especially since some do not seem to have any direct relevance to our topic. It is worth noting in a general way, however, that the 'cult of the caverns' is always more or less linked to the idea of an 'interior place', or a 'central place', and that in this connection the symbol of the cave and that of the heart closely converge.^[1] On the other hand, in Central Asia, as in America and possibly elsewhere, there actually are caverns and underground sites where certain initiatic centers have been able to persist for centuries. But aside from these particular facts, from all that has been reported on this subject it is not difficult to distill a certain symbolism; indeed, we can even say that it is precisely considerations of a symbolic nature that have determined the choice of these subterranean locations for the establishment of initiatic centers, much more than any simple reasons of prudence. Perhaps Saint-Yves may have been able to explain this symbolism, but he failed to do so, and this is what lends the appearance of fantasy to certain portions of his work.^[2] As for Ossendowski, he was surely not capable of going beyond what he had been told, and of seeing in it any but the most literal meaning.Among the traditions alluded to above is one of particular interest, which is found in Judaism, and concerns a mysterious city called Luz.^[3] This name was originally that of the place where Jacob had his dream, and which he subsequently called Beith-El, or 'House of God',^[4] a point to which we shall return. It is said that the 'Angel of Death' could not enter this city, and wielded no power over it; and, by a rather singular and very significant convergence, some locate it near Alborj, which is likewise the 'abode of immortality' for the Persians. Near Luz there is purported to be an almond tree (also called luz in Hebrew), at the base of which is a hollow through which one enters an underground passage;^[5] this passage leads to the city itself, which remains completely hidden. Moreover, in its various meanings the word luz appears to be derived from a root denoting everything that is hidden, covered, enveloped, silent, and secret; and it is interesting to note that words designating the heavens originally had the same meaning. We usually equate coelum [Latin for 'heaven/sky'] with the Greek koilon, or ‘hollow' (which may have some connection with the cavern, especially since Varro indicates this relationship with the expression a cavo coelum); but we must also note that the oldest and most accurate form is judged to be caelum, which recalls very closely the verb caelare, 'to hide'. In Sanskrit, moreover, Varuna derives from the root var, ‘to cover' (which is also the meaning of the root kal, related in turn to the Latin celare, another form of caelare, and to its Greek synonym kaluptein);^[6] and the Greek Ouranos is only another form of the same noun, var easily changing to ur. These words thus signify 'that which covers',^[7] ers', 'that which conceals',^[8] or 'that which is hidden', and this last has a double sense: considered as what is hidden from the senses, it is the supra-sensible realm, but during periods of darkness or obscuration it is the tradition, now no longer externally and openly manifested—the 'celestial world' thus becoming the 'subterranean world'. There is yet another connection to be made with the heavens: Luz is called the 'blue city', and the color blue, which is that of the sapphire,^[9] is the celestial color. In India it is said that the blue color of the atmosphere is produced by the reflection of light on the southern face of Meru, which looks out upon the Jambu-dvīpa and is made of sapphire. This obviously refers to the same symbolism. Moreover, the Jambu-dvīpa represents not only India in the usual sense, but in reality also the entire terrestrial world in its present state, and in fact this world can be regarded as situated entirely to the south of Meru, since the latter is identified with the North Pole.^[10] The seven dvīpas (literally, 'islands' or 'continents') emerge successively during the course of certain cyclical periods, so that each is the terrestrial world envisaged in the corresponding period; they form a lotus having Meru as the center, with respect to which they are oriented according to the seven regions of space.^[11] One face of Meru is thus turned toward each of the seven dvīpas, and if each of these faces is one of the colors of the rainbow,^[12] the synthesis of these will be the color white, which is universally attributed to the supreme spiritual authority,^[13] and which is the color of Meru considered in itself (we shall see that it is indeed called the ‘white mountain’), whereas the other colors only represent its aspects in relation to the different dvīpas. It may seem that Meru occupies a different position during the period of manifestation of each dvīpa, but in reality it is immovable because it is the center, and it is the orientation of the terrestrial world with respect to it that changes from one period to the next.Let us return to the Hebrew word luz, the many different meanings of which merit careful attention. In the ordinary sense it means ‘almond’ (as well as ‘almond tree’, designating by extension both the tree and its fruit) or ‘kernel’; now, the kernel is what is innermost or most hidden, and it is completely enclosed, from which stems the idea of ‘inviolability’^[14] (which is also found in the same Agarttha). But luz is also the name given to an indestructible corporeal particle, symbolically represented as an extremely hard bone, to which the soul, after death, remains linked until the resurrection.^[15] As the kernel contains the germ and as the bone contains the marrow, so this luz contains the virtual elements necessary for the restoration of the being; and this restoration will be effected under the influence of a ‘celestial dew’ that will revivify the dry bones. Saint Paul alludes to this in the clearest possible way when he says: ‘It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.’^[16] Here, as elsewhere, ‘glory’ refers to the Shekinah, here envisaged in the superior world, and to which the ‘celestial dew’ is closely related, as was noted earlier. Luz, being imperishable,^[17] is the ‘kernel of immortality’ in the human being, just as the city that is designated by the same name is the ‘abode of immortality’; this is where the power of the ‘Angel of Death’ stops in both cases. It is a sort of egg or embryo of the immortal,^[18] it may also be compared with the chrysalis from which the butterfly emerges, ^[19] a comparison which exactly conveys its role with respect to the resurrection.The luz is said to be located toward the lower end of the spinal column; this might seem rather strange, but becomes clear when it is compared with what the Hindu tradition says about the power called Kundalinī, ^[20] which is a form of Shakti considered as immanent in the human being.^[21] This force is represented by the figure of a coiled snake in a region of the subtle body corresponding precisely to the base of the spinal column; this at least is the case in the ordinary man, but by means of practices such as those of Hatha-Yoga, it is aroused, uncoils, and ascends through the 'wheels' (chakras) or ‘lotuses' (kamalas) that correspond to the various plexuses, to reach finally the region corresponding to the 'third eye', that is, the frontal eye of Shiva. This stage represents the restoration of the 'primordial state', in which man recovers the 'sense of eternity', thereby attaining what we have elsewhere called 'virtual immortality'. Up to this point we are still in the human state; in a subsequent phase the Kundalinī finally reaches the crown of the head, ^[22] and this last phase relates to the effective conquest of the higher states of the being. What seems to follow from this comparison is that the location of the luz in the lower part of the organism refers only to the condition of 'fallen man'; and for terrestrial humanity considered as a whole the same could be said of the location of the supreme spiritual center in the 'subterranean world'.^[23]

Footnotes

[1]The cave, or the grotto, represents the cavity of the heart considered as the center of the being, and also the interior of the ‘World Egg'.

[2]For example the passage that tells of the 'descent to the hells'; this may be compared with what was said on the same subject in The Esoterism of Dante.

[3]The information given here has been partially drawn from the Jewish Encyclopaedia (VIII, 219).

[4]Gen. 28:19.

[5]The traditions of certain peoples of North America also tell of a tree by means of which some men who originally lived in the interior of the earth succeeded in reaching its surface, whereas other men of the same race are said to have remained in the subterranean world. It is likely that Bulwer-Lytton was inspired by these traditions in his Vril: The Power of the Coming Race.

[6]Other Latin words derive from the same root kal, such as caligo and perhaps the compound occultus. From another point of view, it is possible that the form caelare came originally from a different root caed, meaning 'to cut' or 'to divide' (from which also cadere), and consequently 'to separate' and 'to hide'; but in any case the ideas expressed by these roots are, as can be seen, very close to each other, and this could easily have given rise to the assimilation of caelare and celare, even if these two forms are etymologically independent.

[7]The 'Roof of the World', which can be assimilated to the 'Celestial Land' or 'Land of the Living', has in the traditions of Central Asia a close connection with the ‘Western Sky' where Avalokiteshvara reigns. In regard to the sense of ‘covering', the Masonic expression 'under cover' should be recalled, the star-bedecked ceiling of the Lodge representing the celestial vault.

[8]This is the veil of Isis, or of Neith among the Egyptians, and the 'blue veil' of the universal Mother in the Far-Eastern tradition (Tao Te Ching, chap. 6); applying this meaning to the visible sky will give an intimation of the role of astronomical symbolism in hiding or 'revealing' higher truths.

[9]The sapphire plays an important role in biblical symbolism, appearing with particular frequency in the visions of prophets.

[10]In Sanskrit the North is called Uttara, that is, the highest region, the South being called Dakshina, the region to the right, that is, on one's right hand when facing the East. Uttarāyana is the upward march of the sun toward the North, beginning with the winter solstice and ending at the summer solstice; dakshināyana is the downward march of the sun toward the South, beginning with the summer solstice and ending at the winter solstice.

[11]In Hindu symbolism (which Buddhism has retained in its legend of the ‘seven steps'), the seven regions of space consist of the four cardinal points, the Zenith, and the Nadir, and finally the center itself; and note that their representation forms a cross in three dimensions (six directions, opposed two by two starting from the center). Similarly, in kabbalistic symbolism the 'Holy Palace' or 'Interior Palace' is at the center of the six directions, and thus forms the septenary, and 'Clement of Alexandria says that from God, "heart of the universe", proceed the indefinite expanses directed, one upward, one downward, this one to the right, that one to the left, one forward, and the other one backward; directing His gaze toward these six expanses as toward a number that is ever the same, He completes the world; He is the Beginning and the End [the alpha and the omega]; in Him are accomplished the six phases of time, and it is from Him that they receive their indefinite extension—that is the secret of the number seven' (quoted by Vulliaud, La Kabbale juive, I, pp215–16). All this is related to the development of the primordial point in space and in time. The six phases of time, corresponding respectively to the six directions of space, are six cyclical periods, subdivisions of another, more general period, and sometimes represented symbolically as six millennia; they are also assimilable to the first six 'days' of Genesis, the seventh, or Sabbath, representing the phase of the return to the Principle, that is, to the center. We thus have seven periods, to which can perhaps be related the respective manifestations of the seven dvīpas; if each of these periods is a Manvantara, the Kalpa comprises two complete septenary periods; and the same symbolism is clearly applicable to different degrees, according to the greater or lesser duration of the cyclical period envisaged.

[12]See our earlier remarks on the symbolism of the rainbow. There are in reality only six colors, ranged in complementary pairs, and corresponding to the six directions in the same way, the seventh color being nothing other than white itself, just as the seventh region is identified with the center.

[13]It is therefore not without reason that in the Catholic hierarchy the pope is attired in white.

[14]This is why the almond tree was taken as the symbol of the Virgin.

[15]It is curious to note that this Jewish tradition very probably inspired certain theories of Leibnitz concerning the 'animal' (that is, the living being) subsisting perpetually with a body, though reduced to a 'miniature' after death.

[16]1 Cor. 15:42. In these words there is a strict application of the law of analogy, 'As above, so below, but inversely.'

[17]In Sanskrit, the word akshara signifies 'indissoluble', hence 'imperishable' or 'indestructible'; it designates the syllable, the primary element and germ of language, and applies pre-eminently to the monosyllable Om, which is said to contain within itself the essence of the triple Veda.

[18]We find its equivalent in other forms in diverse traditions, and particularly, with some very important developments, in Taoism. In this regard, it is the analogue, in the 'microcosmic' order, to the 'World Egg' in the 'macrocosmic' order, since it contains the possibilities of the 'future cycle' (the vita venturi saeculi [‘life of the world to come'] of the Catholic Creed).

[19]Reference can be made to the Greek symbolism of Psyche, which rests for the most part on this similarity (see Psyché, by F. Pron).

[20]The word kundalī (kundalinī in the feminine) means 'coiled in the form of a ring or spiral', this coiled condition symbolizing the embryonic or 'undeveloped' state.

[21]In this respect, and from a certain point of view, its abode is also identified with the cavity of the heart; we have already referred to the relationship existing between the Hindu Shakti and the Hebrew Shekinah.

[22]This is the Brahma-randhra, or the orifice of Brahma, point of contact of the sushumnā or ‘coronal artery' with the 'solar ray'; this symbolism is discussed in detail in Man and His Becoming according to the Vedānta.

[23]All this is closely related with the real significance of the well-known Hermetic saying Visita inferiora terrae, rectificando invenies occultum, lapidem, veram medicinam [Visit the inferior regions of the earth; in rectitude will you find the hidden thing, the stone, the true medicine], which gives, by acrostic, the word Vitriolum. The ‘philosophers' stone' is at the same time, and under another aspect, the 'true medicine', that is, the 'elixir of long life', which is nothing other than the 'draught of immortality'. Interiora is sometimes written in place of inferiora, but this does not alter the general meaning, as there remains the same manifest allusion to the 'subterranean world'.

LUZ: ABODE OF IMMORTALITY

Footnotes